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'Great treasure' of rare cave drawings goes on display
Pictographs 'will bring tourists to Clarksville'
By AMY RITCHART
The Leaf-Chronicle
CLARKSVILLE — More than 30 prehistoric cave drawings and etchings inside Dunbar Cave were put on display Saturday, giving the public the first glimpse of a "great treasure of North America."
The rare pictographs were first discovered by chance in January 2005 and have been analyzed by Jan Simek, professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee.
Simek presented his findings during a ceremony at Dunbar Cave State Park and Natural Area.
While there are 53 caves with documented prehistoric finds — and all of them are fragile — most are on private property and unavailable for public viewing, Simek said.
"This is in a cave already owned by the state. This is the first one that we can show to the public," he said. "It's a great thing. It will have economic impact — this will bring tourists to Clarksville."
The pictographs and etchings are from the Mississippian Era, which spanned 700 to 1300 A.D. in North America, Simek said. The pictographs themselves cannot be carbon-dated without destroying the art, but remnants of cane torches once used to light the way in the cave date the pictographs at about 1260 A.D.
"The potential of the archaeology in this cave is astounding," he said.
The pictographs display religious symbols that include stars, circles, crosses, a swastika — and in one place a figure of a Mississippian supernatural warrior. They are arranged in compositions and were left unannounced to the general public for more than a year while a more secure gate was added to the cave mouth.
The first drawings discovered are not far down the walkway into the cool, damp cave. They would have been reached by crawling with a torch through a canal.
"It's very unique and very educational," said Clarksville resident Jerry Clark, who has explored the drawings with Simek.
"In the end, that's going to be the major significance of this."
Simek presented his analysis of the ancient art at a cave gate dedication hosted by Friends of Dunbar Cave and the state Department of Environment and Conservation, who cooperatively worked to have the new gate installed to protect the archaeological findings.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/COUNTY05/607310360/1006/NEWS01
Pictographs 'will bring tourists to Clarksville'
By AMY RITCHART
The Leaf-Chronicle
CLARKSVILLE — More than 30 prehistoric cave drawings and etchings inside Dunbar Cave were put on display Saturday, giving the public the first glimpse of a "great treasure of North America."
The rare pictographs were first discovered by chance in January 2005 and have been analyzed by Jan Simek, professor of anthropology at the University of Tennessee.
Simek presented his findings during a ceremony at Dunbar Cave State Park and Natural Area.
While there are 53 caves with documented prehistoric finds — and all of them are fragile — most are on private property and unavailable for public viewing, Simek said.
"This is in a cave already owned by the state. This is the first one that we can show to the public," he said. "It's a great thing. It will have economic impact — this will bring tourists to Clarksville."
The pictographs and etchings are from the Mississippian Era, which spanned 700 to 1300 A.D. in North America, Simek said. The pictographs themselves cannot be carbon-dated without destroying the art, but remnants of cane torches once used to light the way in the cave date the pictographs at about 1260 A.D.
"The potential of the archaeology in this cave is astounding," he said.
The pictographs display religious symbols that include stars, circles, crosses, a swastika — and in one place a figure of a Mississippian supernatural warrior. They are arranged in compositions and were left unannounced to the general public for more than a year while a more secure gate was added to the cave mouth.
The first drawings discovered are not far down the walkway into the cool, damp cave. They would have been reached by crawling with a torch through a canal.
"It's very unique and very educational," said Clarksville resident Jerry Clark, who has explored the drawings with Simek.
"In the end, that's going to be the major significance of this."
Simek presented his analysis of the ancient art at a cave gate dedication hosted by Friends of Dunbar Cave and the state Department of Environment and Conservation, who cooperatively worked to have the new gate installed to protect the archaeological findings.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/COUNTY05/607310360/1006/NEWS01
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